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Sunday, June 16, 2013

Your first chapter here...

This week we'll repeat my last stint here at UB with another first chapter critique by yours truly. That means that someone has to send me their first chapter to crit (you, perhaps?) and the rest of you will hopefully come back and offer your opinions for the author. This can be anonymous, if the author chooses, or not. Please send your submission to: unicornbellsubmissions@gmail.com.

I would also like to say something about critting.

It is entirely subjective.

What does that mean? It means that my crit (or any single crit you get) is only one person's opinion in a sea of opinions. In order to get a true sense of what's working and what's not, you need more than a single opinion. Think of it like the endless quest to find the right agent or publisher or audience for our books. Whoever that person or entity is they have to get what the story is about and preferably be a fan of the genre. For example, if I were to crit a mystery I would not be doing the author any favors since I generally don't read mysteries and therefore don't know what sort of devices are typical or expected. Therefore it's best to get someone who's familiar with the genre you write to crit your story - imho. That said, take any crit I give with a grain of salt because I am certainly not an 'expert' critter. I do, however, know good writing and great characters when I see them.


So, who's game?

Update: I have a chapter to crit - thank you!

4 comments:

Liz A. said...

I have a first draft first chapter if you don't get enough submissions. It's not really ready for critique...

mshatch said...

Thanks, Liz, I may be calling on you...

epublishabook said...

I also have one if needed. It is ready for critique and hungry for it :-) Young Adult fantasy, revolving around the importance of truth.

Angela Brown said...

I've got a first chapter as well that you can tear into (okay, just typing that was a bit scary lol!)